CONSUMER AND COMMUNITYENGAGEMENT FORUMSHARING INSIGHTS AND LEARNINGS

WentWest: Western Sydney Primary Health Network

www.wentwest.com.au

1. What are we trying to achieve1.2.3.

As a systemAs a PHNIn partnership

2. Development of “toolkit”

3. Observations

www.wentwest.com.au

Consumer engagement forum

Integrated care – an alignment

Care, which imposes the patient’s as theorganising principle of service delivery and makes redundant old supply-driven models of care provision. Integrated care enables health and social care provision that is flexible, personalised, and seamless

(Lloyd & Wait 2005)

The structure of achieving this should ideally reflect strategy and be based on the principle of equity; an integrated health system

should be for all not just some

1stPrimary health – effective contact

Health systems with strong primary health careare more efficient, have lower rates of hospitalisation, fewer health inequalities and better health outcomes including lower mortality, than those that do not

(WHO 2008)

A strong primary health care system should mean that we are able to care for people appropriately. This means primary health care teams

working effectively on behalf of their clients, patients and families

Meeting the challenges meanschanging the trajectory

• …if left to their own devices, health systems donot gravitate naturally towards the goals of health all through primary health care ...

for

• …if left todevelop inand social

their own devices, health systems directions that contribute little to equityjustice and fail to get the best health

outcomes for their money(WHO 2008 p15)

Brand new roles

•

•

•

•

•

Team member (sometimes,

Specialist for my panel

team leader)

Innovator, improver, systems-thinker

Partner to my patients in their health

Educator for frontline staff on my team,

for medical traineesas well as

How do we define good quality general practice and the roles that support it

1. What are we trying to achieve1.2.3.

As a systemAs a PHNIn partnership

2. Development of “toolkit”

3. Observations

www.wentwest.com.au

Consumer engagement forum

PHNs – Improving a community voice

Dept of Health on Community Advisory Committees:

Will report to the PHN Board and collaborate with Clinical CouncilsEnsure local accountability and relevance of PHN activities Promote patient centred decision making and needs identification Representation reflects the diversity and needs of the local populationAlignment with Clinical Councils to be determined by PHNs, based on regional needsPHN Boards are accountable for the overall performance of each PHN including responsibility to oversee the development and implementation of a consumer and community engagement strategy.

Challenge of engaging effectively

PHN engagement objectivesThe question of how the PHN role can assist in achieving better outcomes for consumers and the community through:• A more transparent health and human services system

for consumers, their families and carers.

• The ability to begin to actively engage as partners with clinicians in their healthcare.

• Empowerment of local communities so they can have a greater say and influence in the planning, design, delivery of healthcare

• Feedback from evaluation of health services, as a basisfor continuous improvement of the healthcare system.

1. What are we trying to achieve1.2.3.

As a systemAs a PHNIn partnership

2. Development of “toolkit”

3. Observations

www.wentwest.com.au

Consumer engagement forum

www.wentwest.com.au

Optimising the solution for consumerswill mean disregarding boundaries

Shaping partnerships/collaborations• Core capabilities in developing synergies:

≡≡≡

Negotiating and advocating for primary careCommissioning and brokeringInvesting in innovative solutions

• Leveraging off regional and functionalothers

expertise of

• Addressing health inequities

• Understanding outcomes and measuring change

• Integrating the role of teaching, training, researchand evaluation

Investments influenced bycommunity engagement• Leading better integration of care –patient centred care

≡ Keeping people well and out of hospital

•

•

Assess, understand and systematically document needs

Consciousness about diversity and how to “reach into”communities≡ Population and sub population health

• Respond to identified health inequalities and the socialdeterminants of health

• Assess changes/outcomes at local levels

Community and consumerengagement process

Topdown

Ground

up

••

Known health needsImproving existingservices

• Understanding what will better meet needsIndentify and fill gaps•

A model for community andconsumer engagement

1. What are we trying to achieve1.2.3.

As a systemAs a PHNIn partnership

2. Development of “toolkit”

3. Observations

www.wentwest.com.au

Consumer engagement forum

PartnershipsWentWest in partnership with

Health Consumers New South Wales (HCNSW)

has produced

Developing a consumer and community engagement strategy: toolkit (the Toolkit)

to support the development of effective consumerand community engagement strategies by PrimaryCare Organisations and services.

A toolkit• The Toolkit is a companion document to the WW Consumer and Community

Engagement Framework (the Framework).

• Supports the practical application of WW Framework and containsinformation, tools and tip sheets to support the stages and steps organisations may undertake to develop effective engagement strategies.

• Recognising that there is no one size fits all approach, the Toolkit andFramework promote collaborative and integrated approaches to engagementby Primary Care with consumers, clinicians and the community.

• Assists organisations to work towards more seamless and efficienthealthcare delivery with Primary Health Care Networks, local councils, state and Commonwealth departments, and health and community sector organisations.

Consumer and Community - Engagement• The Toolkit supports the development of strategies tailored to meet the

purpose of the engagement, and the needs of the consumers andcommunities within the local area.

• While it has been developed to specifically support WSPHN, the Toolkitalso has application across public and private health service organisations delivering health promotion, prevention, primary, acute, subacute and community health services.

• The Toolkit outlines four stages – scope, plan, engage and review, andsteps in developing an effective consumer and community engagement strategy.

• The Toolkit can be used to review current consumer and communityengagement initiatives, so that organisations can build upon what is working well and identify gaps and opportunities for engagement at the individual, service, network and system levels.

Engagement Framework

1. What are we trying to achieve1.2.3.

As a systemAs a PHNIn partnership

2. Development of “toolkit”

3. Observations

www.wentwest.com.au

Consumer engagement forum

Consumer & Ccommunity engagementjourneyWhen commencing strategy development,some overarching issues to consider include:

••••

organisational strategygovernance and leadership capacity and resources communication with the PHNexternal stakeholders

workforce and

• accountability and transparency

Consumer & Ccommunity engagementjourneyAt the operational level, consideration should be given to:

• the involvement and engagement of consumers and the community throughout the four stages of strategy development.

• how to facilitate consumer and community-driven engagement that isembedded in organisational culture and practice in an ongoing way.

• opportunities to work in partnership with on shared consumer and community engagement mechanisms and approaches.

• opportunities for partnerships with consumer and community organisations, and other government agencies with common client groups.

For example:≡≡≡

Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability ServicesLocal Government authorities private hospitalscommunity service networks.

Key learnings

1. Define your purpose and objectivesScoping the purpose and objectives with reference to legislation, regulation, reporting frameworks, and strategic and operational planning will provide you with clear direction on how the consumer and community engagement strategy will contribute to improved health services and outcomes.

2. Understand local consumer and community profileUnderstanding who your consumers and communities are, including those who experience barriers accessing services within the local area to allow identification to deliver more locally responsive services that better meet patient needs.

Key learnings

3. Identify potential partners and stakeholdersUnderstanding the stakeholders who operate and deliver services within your region is an important step. The mapping of groups, organisations, services and networks can provide opportunities to tap into the local connections and networks. This helps to identify engagement activities and uncovers community knowledge about what already exists, what is working and what opportunities there are to work in partnership with other organisations.

4. Map current engagement activitiesIt is important to have an understanding of current consumer and community engagement activities in order to identify what is in place, what is working well, gaps and opportunities to build upon effective engagement mechanisms and activities.

Key learnings

5. Develop prioritiesThe following will assist you to integrate consumer and communityengagement priorities and direction with organisational priorities.

6. Identify mechanisms for engagementDevelop mechanisms for engagement which are responsive to local needs and the local community. There is no one size fits all approach and it is important that mechanisms are tailored appropriately to engage engaging with the target group, the degree of influence that consumers/community will have on outcomes, and whether it is a one-off or ongoing initiative.

Key learnings7. Develop outcome and performance measures

Ensure your Boards will work with Chief Executives and key staff to develop strategic outcomes and performance measures for the specific priorities and mechanisms that are included in your consumer and community engagement strategy. Historically engagement outcomes have been focused on measuring outputs such as how many people were engaged and how much media coverage was generated. While this information is important to capture, the framework should also focus on measuring outcomes based upon the effectiveness of the engagement.

8. Operational planningYou will need to operationalise the consumer and community engagement strategy as part of business and/or service level planning frameworks.

Key learnings

9. ImplementIdentify and establish systems to record and capture information on the implementation of the consumer and community engagement at individual, service and operational levels, against key performance indicators.

10. Monitor, review and evaluateThe Board, supported by the executive committee, oversees the consumer and community engagement strategy (development, implementation, monitoring and review). This also includes addressing issues that arise in implementation.

Thank You

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